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Saturday, December 31, 2016

Happy New Year! My final post for 2016 includes drinks and Nick & Nora film clips to help you celebrate!

Several years ago I blogged about Detectives and their Drinks. I also posted about James Bond's Vesper Martini. Detective teamNick and Nora Charles always come up on top for detectives with a pension for drink. The constant drinking of this bantering couple never hampers their investigative skills - quite the opposite. "Can't you say anything about the case?" a detective asks. "Yes," Nick grumbles. "It's putting me way behind in my drinking."

Knickerbockerfrom The Thin Man (1934)
50ml gin
Large dash dry vermouth
Small dash sweet vermouth
Add the gin and both vermouths to a mixing glass filled with ice. Once well mixed, strain into a frosted martini glass.

What will you be drinking tonight? Pick Your Poison and Toast 2017! Enjoy!

If you follow this blog or if you know me in real time, you know that I'm a list maker. This week I put together a list of different chocolatiers who make champagne truffles for a New Year's Eve post on DyingforChocolate.com, and I thought there must be several mysteries in which Champagne has a prominent role. I know that Champagne figures in Dashiell Hammett's Thin Man books. I remember Nick and Nora drinking lots of champagne in the movies. So I came up with a short list of 'Champagne' books to toast (and read) on New Year's Eve. I do have a New Year's Crime Fiction list, and champagne is featured in some of them, although not necessarily as the main theme. Please comment with any missed titles.

CHAMPAGNE IN MYSTERIES

Murder & Champagne by Ashok BankerThe Charlemagne Connection by R.M. Cartmel Sparkling Cyanideby Agatha ChristieTug of War by Barbara Cleverly Champagne Fuhrernby Kare Hallden (in Swedish)Champagne: The Farewell by Janet HubbardChampagne Blues by Ivan and Nat LyonsDry Bones by Peter MayDesign for Dying by Renee Patrick Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis SmallmanMurder by Champagne by Keith Spicer Champagne for One by Nero Wolfe

And here's a true mystery related story about Champagne, especially for history mystery folks. This was reported in The Daily Mail (UK) July 2010. Talk about a vintage that holds its own!

Divers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. They have already tested out the contents of one bottle and claim it tastes 'fantastic' despite dating back to the late 18th century. Diving instructor Christian Ekstrom said the bottles are believed to be from the 1780s and likely were part of a cargo destined for Russia. 'We brought up the bottle to be able to establish how old the wreck was. We didn't know it would be champagne. We thought it was wine or something,' he said. Ekstrom said the divers were overjoyed when they popped the cork on their boat after hauling the bubbly from a depth of 200 feet (60 meters). 'It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak,' Ekstrom said. The divers discovered the shipwreck near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. About 30 bottles are believed to be aboard the sunken vessel.Read More Here.

And, then, of course, there's always Sabering Champagne, as opposed to savoring Champagne. Sabering is opening the champagne bottle with a saber. A talent a mystery reader and writer might have!

Judy Bobalik reports that Author Meg Chittenden passed away yesterday after a long illness. I remember Meg from so many Bouchercons, Malice Domestics, and Left Coast Crimes. I always enjoyed chatting with her and reading her books.

Meg (Margaret) Chittenden, born in 1935, was the author of the Charlie Plato series set in San Francisco, as well as numerous non-series books. She also wrote romantic suspense under the name Rosalind Carson.

One is Nicholas Blake's Thou Shell of Death (1936). Nicholas Blake is the pseudonym of Cecil Day Lewis, late British poet laureate.

Thou Shell of Death features Fergus O'Brien, WWI flying ace. Fergus receives four letters predicting that he will be murdered on Boxing Day. Despite this, or maybe because of this, he plans a party and invites all the suspects (there are several people who might want to do him in) plus private detective Nigel Strangeways. O'Brien does die, and it's up to Nigel Strangeways with the help of Inspector Blount of Scotland Yard to solve the crime. This is Blount's first appearance in the series. Thou Shell of Death is an oldie but goodie, especially if you like houseparty mysteries.

There are three other novels that focus on Boxing Day. A frozen body is found on Boxing Day in Viveca Sten's In Harm's Way. Another mystery is Gilbert Adair's The Act of Roger Murgatroyd that takes place entirely on Boxing Day.This is part of his series of novels about Evadne Mount, and is clearly a play on Agatha Christie novels. In another Boxing Day mystery, Death at Sandringham House by C.C. Benison, Her Majesty the Queen, along with her housemaid Jane Bee, investigates.

And, if you're unfamiliar with Boxing Day, it's the day after Christmas, when "servants and tradesmen traditionally would receive gifts from their superiors." Today it's a national holiday in most of the British Commonwealth and former British colonies. As far as why it's called Boxing Day, there are several different theories:

A ‘Christmas Box’ in Britain is a name for a Christmas present.

Boxing
Day was a day off for servants and when they received a ‘Christmas Box’
from the master. The servants would also go home to give ‘Christmas
Boxes’ to their families.

A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day.

Great sailing ships when setting sail would have a sealed box
containing money on board for good luck. If the voyage were a success the
box was given to a priest, opened at Christmas and the contents given
to the poor.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Chanukah (no matter how you spell it - Hanukah, Hanukkah) is celebrated for eight days, so you have plenty of time to read all these books! Hanukah starts tonight. Let
me know if I've missed any mysteries. This is an updated list.

Hanukah Mystery NovelsA Crafty Christmas by Molly Cox BryanHoliday Grind by Cleo Coyle (mostly about Christmas but Hanukah is mentioned)Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara FradkinStrength to Stand by Sheyna Galyan Festival of Deaths by Jane HaddamHanukkah Gelt by T. Lee Harris Out of the Frying Pan into the Choir by Sharon KahnSaturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry KemelmanMurder at the Minyan by Shlumat E. KustanowitzThe Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page (mostly about Christmas but Hanukah is mentioned)Dog Have Mercy by Neil Plakcy Chanukah Guilt by Ilene SchneiderThe Tattooed Rabbi by Marvin J. Wolf

Mystery Short Stories
"Mom Lights a Candle" by James Yaffe, appeared in Mystery: The Best of 2002, ed. by Jon L. Breen.
"Hanukah" by Morris Hershman in Cat Crimes for the Holidays, ed. by Martin Greenberg, Edward Gorman and Larry Segriff
"The Worse Noel" by Barb Goffman in The Gift of Murder.
"Death on the List" by B.K. Stevens (AHMM, January 1999)
For more info on Jewish short story mysteries, check out Steven Steinbock who blogs on Criminal Brief, the Mystery Short Story Web Log Project.
"Navidad" by Elizabeth Zelvin, EQMM, January 2011
"No Candles for Antiochus" by Barry Ergang
Murder is no Mitzvah: Short Stories about Jewish Occasions, edited by Abigail Browning

Mystery Games
Children's software mystery game: Who Stole Hanukkah? offered in five languages: English, Hebrew, Russian, French and Spanish
Other Games for Children: The Case of the Stolen Menorah: An Enlightening Hanukkah Mystery

Friday, December 23, 2016

Patricia “P.J.” Lambrecht, co-author with her daughter Traci Lambrecht, of seven best-selling thrillers
featuring the St. Paul Monkeewrench gang, died Wednesday on her own
terms after entertaining her oldest friends. She was 70.

Lambrecht, who died in the home north of Stillwater she shared with her
husband, Ted Platz, had struggled with health problems for several years
and was in and out of the hospital since early November when she took a
bad fall, according to her daughter. She asked to go home after ending
her drug regimen.“She had an amazing first week when she was home,” Traci
said of her petite, lively mother. “We decorated the tree, wrapped
presents, shared memories. Death is never beautiful, but hers was as
good as it can get. She went out gracefully like the extraordinary woman
she was. She was sitting on her favorite sofa with her kitty at her
side and Ted and I holding her hands.”

The popular Monkeewrench series, which the women wrote as P.J.Tracy,
features a colorful group of computer geniuses who work in an old
mansion on Summit Avenue. Their most recent adventure, “The Sixth Idea,”
published in August, was inspired by secrets from P.J.’s personal life.
The story centers on the murders of men who secretly worked on
developing the hydrogen bomb, one of whom was P.J.’s father, Don Hepler.

I have a softspot for Typewriters. I often choose typewriters as my photo theme at the Flea Market. I don't collect them (no space or I would), but I do take photos of them.. and occasionally post here on Mystery Fanfare. I also love Retro Ads, so here's the marriage of both... retro typewriter advertisements for the holidays!

The Typewriter: Perfect gift for Christmas from the 20s through the 70s. Happy Holidays!

I love the Winter Solstice. So glad the days will begin to lengthen. I'm big on light. I put together a huge list of Christmas Mysteries (divided into 5 posts), and I'm sure some of those authors/titles reference the Winter Solstice, but I didn't find all that many that actually center on the Winter Solstice. Any titles/authors you can add?

Winter Solstice Mysteries

Ngaio Marsh, Off with His Head
Joan Hess, A Holly Jolly Murder
Jane Langton, The Shortest Day: Murder at the Revels
Henning Mankell, Italian Shoes
Gladys Mitchell. The Dancing DruidsAnd, if you want to celebrate your Winter Solstice in chocolate, check out these Yule Log (Buche De Noel) posts.